LeT claims responsibility for Hyderabad blasts: BJP leader

People hold candles as they pray for the victims of Hyderabad blasts. Photo: Reuters

Updated: Mon, Feb 25 2013. 12 59 AM IST

Hyderabad: Investigators are believed to have obtained certain “clear clues” based on CCTV footage at the site of the twin blasts in Hyderabad and questioning of some jailed terror suspects here even as a letter purportedly written by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility.

As multi-probe teams including from National Investigation Agency (NIA) analysed the footage and sought details of cycles bought locally, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Andhra Pradesh unit president G. Kishan Reddy said he received a threat letter purportedly written by LeT, a Pakistan-based terror outfit, in which it claimed responsibility for the Dilsukhnagar bomb blast on Thursday night.

Police have questioned nearly 30 persons in connection with the explosions but yet to make any arrest. 16 people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs placed on bicycles went off within minutes of each other in which the handiwork of banned militant outfit Indian Mujahideen, which has links with LeT, is being increasingly suspected.

Reddy told reporters he received a letter by post on Saturday written in Urdu and English languages.

However, he refused to give a copy of the letter saying he has handed it over to Abids police station. In the letter, the LeT purportedly stated that their next target is Begaumbazar, Reddy claimed. Begaumbazar is another crowded wholesale market in the city.

When contacted, Abids police said “we have received a letter from Kishan Reddy today and it is being verified.”

According to sources, the video footage obtained from the site of blasts showed that three persons were found moving suspiciously near bicycles strapped with explosives, just minutes before the explosions. Help of experts were being taken to enhance the footage for clarity.

Sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while being briefed by state Director General of Police (DGP) V. Dinesh Reddy here about the progress in the investigations so far was told certain “clear clues” were obtained based on footage of the CCTV cameras at the scene and also questioning of some terror suspects lodged in jails here. “We are working in close co-ordination with the NIA and are hopeful of cracking the case soon,” the DGP was said to have told the Prime Minister.

In a related development, 30-year-old Somalian national Abdullah Umran Makran and a Hyderabad youth Mohammad Adam arrested in Motihari in Bihar on Saturday while trying to sneak into Nepal were on Sunday subjected to questioning by security agencies in the eastern state connection with the blasts.

The Hyderabad police said Adam obtained his driving licence allegedly on fake residential address and they are verifying his antecedents.